Meeting the Youko
by Mnementh102
Summary: A young woman named Anna moves to a college town and finds herself mixed up in a robbery investigation. The mastermind, Youko Kurama, takes her as captive to the demon world. Are his intentions pure, or has he chosen to subjugate her as an example?
1. Chapter 1

Meeting the Youko

Summary:

A young woman named Anna moves to a college town and finds herself mixed up in a robbery investigation. The mastermind and king of thieves, Youko Kurama, takes her as captive to the demon world. Are his intentions pure…Or has he chosen to subjugate her as an example to his fellow thieves.

At long last Anna could sigh with relief as she set her books down at her front door. She gazed around the undecorated white walls of her new apartment and stretched her arms out above her before turning to lock the door and head into her tiny, but efficient kitchen. Pouring water into a worn-in tea kettle, Anna glanced out of the kitchen into the apartment she had been so lucky to come by.

Less than a month before semester would begin, Anna had received notice that she had finally been accepted to the university. Quick arrangements had been made, and Anna had worked out a living arrangement with an elderly couple to rent an upstairs apartment in exchange for tending to the yard and house. Her new dwelling, all though only about a half hour's walk to campus, skirted dense woods which her landlords, the Pirston's, owned. She smiled to herself, and settled down with a hot mug of tea to flip over the local newspaper.

Anna twisted her finger into her dark hair and gazed down at her tea to her reflection. In the tint of the liquid, her eyes looked almost black, a stark difference from their actual emerald green color. Sore muscles reminded her to take the next few days easy as her body adjusted to running over the hilly topography of the sleepy college town. Sipping her tea, Anna read over a few of the headlines before spotting a crime bulletin detailing a break in to a local jewelry shop. Her curiosity peaked; she furrowed her brow as the newspaper reported the theft of only a couple of items; one ruby bracelet, and a matching necklace studded with onyx. She looked over the picture and noted that all though quiet beautiful, the necklace and bracelet were plain compared to what the small jewelry store most likely boasted. How odd that a thief would go to the trouble to break into a store, and only steal one or two items when there were many more, and many more expensive pieces to choose from.

Her phone rang beside her, causing Anna to jump and spill the near scalding tea over her hand. Cursing, she answered the phone.

" Hello?"

"It's Mrs. Priston, Just wondering how you are settling in." Mrs. Priston was a kind-faced woman, married to an old military officer who had retired but still enjoyed firing off a few rounds with his hunting rifle in the back yard. Mrs. Priston had assured Anna that this would not take place at night, but noted that Mr. Priston winked as his wife said this.

"Very well, but I wish I could summon the moving genie to help me unpack all of these boxes. When did I get all of this stuff?" Anna heard Mrs. Priston chuckle over the phone and mutter something about wanted to summon her own moving genie to get rid of some of her husband's guns. "Would you like me to get started on any house-work tomorrow?" Anna asked.

"No, No, not yet. But we'd love you to plant some roses we got the other day at the market. Do you have a good set of gloves?"

"Of course," she lied, "I'll get them in tomorrow and tend to anything else you can think of. Can you make a list?"

"Sure, but don't worry about working too hard right now. Why don't you take your jog tomorrow in the woods out back…they back up to the historical park. That place has been there for over 200 years." Mrs. Priston went on to say.

"Sounds like a plan, I would love to see what the town has to offer. It might be nice to get away from pavement for a little while and hit a dirt trail." Anna said as she walked into the bedroom and stripped her clothes for bed.

Mrs. Priston yawned, and found an abrupt way to end the conversation. Anna wondered if she had stayed awake just to make sure she had gotten in safely. They were very nice people. Plugging her phone into the charger, Anna yawned herself and settled into bed, spent from the day's move and more than ready for sleep.

The dawn greeted her by sending a warming ray of sunlight through her bedroom window. Stretching with an almost cat-like grace, Anna quietly went about her morning routine. A note had been shoved from under the front door detailing a list of responsibilities her new landlords wished for her to tend to. Among the first was a trip to the grocery store complete with money and a list of items the Pristons had detailed.

"Morning run will have to wait." Anna said to no one in particular.

After dawning a pair of blue jeans and an old grey T-shirt, Anna put her long hair into a pony-tail to keep it out of the way. Without even checking herself in the bathroom mirror, Anna was on her way to the center of town.

The street sides were picturesque, with hanging flowers on every other light post and the locally owned and operated businesses with their own window planters every so often. All in all, this hamlet was rather cozy, and oddly welcoming for such a small town. Anna supposed they would have to be, seeing as the student body most likely provided them with a great percentage of their income during the school year.

As Anna approached the local market store with grocery list in hand she heard a shrill cry and laughter coming from one of the stores beside her. A woman ran out, her purse clutched to her chest, but open and pouring out its contents. The woman didn't seem to care. She was older and dressed in a kind of business-casual way so Anna assumed she was retired and enjoying a shopping day; or at least had planned to enjoy a shopping day. Looking closer, Anna spied a great streak of crimson flowing down the back of the older woman's jacket. As other street-goers stopped to gawk at the commotion, the older woman tripped and leaned backwards to scuttle into the street and away from the store she had just exited. Passersby screamed as they noticed the trail of viscous red liquid painting the ground when the woman scooted away.

"Miss!" Anna shouted, not sure how to react. She dropped her grocery list and ran across the street to where the woman sat cowering. From inside the store, the laughter could be heard again. It sounded forced, like whoever it was didn't actually find anything funny, but felt some strange need to fill the silence. Anna placed a hand on the old woman's shoulder in attempt to get her attention, and in reaction, the woman shrieked and pulled the hand she was balancing on back to try and smack her attacker away.

"Hey, it's all right. I'm Anna. Can you tell me where you're hurt?" Anna furrowed her brow in concern but the woman never met her eyes. Paled in obvious fear, the older woman screamed again as a shadow appeared in the doorway. Anna stepped forward and braced her feet, prepared to react in a second's notice. An awful mix of a laugh and cry spewed out from the shadows as a man lunged forward towards both Anna and the terrified old woman beside her. Reacting quickly, Anna spied a broom resting against a trash bin. Bracing the bristle-end against her foot, Anna aimed the tip of the broom to the man's chest. As if it had been planned, the man lunged strait into the broom handle, knocking himself back and gasping for air. At least with the wind knocked out of him, he wouldn't start the crazed cackle again.

As the man collapsed Anna noticed a few bits of red around his fingers and on his clothes. Odd that the woman should bleed so much, but her attacker would be relatively clean by comparison. Looking down, but cautious about trying to touch the frightened woman again Anna asked, "Miss, can you tell me what happened? Are you okay?"

Frazzled but calming now that the threat was over, the woman motioned to her chest. It was then that Anna noticed that the way the crimson flow wasn't at all like blood…it was too thick and dried too quickly. "Paint?" Anna breathed.

Men in EMT uniformes rushed forward to grab and hoist the woman up on a stretcher. Checking vitals indicated that the woman was stable, but her breathing hadn't slowed from the trauma of being chased by a demented shop owner. Anna hoped that her heart was not taking the same restless approach.

"Miss, did you see what happened?" A uniformed officer had finally arrived on scene and seemed bound and determined to play the intimidated authority figure.

"I heard her yell and ran over to help. The man you see there," Anna gestured as two more EMTs picked the shop owner up onto a stretcher, "ran wildly out of the shop and attempted to jump at her." Anna knew that she would most likely have to tell this story around a hundred more times, so there was no reason to expand too much right at the moment.

The Police officer grunted and scribbled down some notes as he muttered something about taking down witness information. As Anna spouted off her new address to the policeman, she looked down at her now red palm. "Perhaps you should come with me." The man eyed her suspiciously, frowning all the while. Anna frowned right back.

"I'm afraid I have errands to run today; maybe I can pay you a visit later on in the day? " Anna stated in a firm but deceptively sweet voice.

The officer shook his head. "We'd really appreciate if you came to make a statement now, Miss." The man took the initiative to grip Anna's arm in an attempt to convince her to step over to the police car. "Someone will take you home after we get your statement." He tried to sound convincing.

Anna started to say something about having to get her landlords requests completed but as she stuck her hand into her jean pocket, she realized that not just the list was gone but the money too. "Damn." She whispered, earning a raised brow from the policeman and his mumbling, "Won't take too long." In the assumption the complaint was over having to go to the station.

Resigning herself, Anna slumped her way to the police car and mentally kicked herself for losing the Priston's grocery money. Shooting her gaze back to the scene where her morning had suddenly turned wild, Anna's eyes widened as she realized that the store in question was the very same as from the crime bulletin. "Eclectic Collections" as the store was called, had lost two pieces of jewelry, and its owner had lost his mind.

"I'm telling you, I have no idea who that old woman is, and I don't know a Mr. Tanaka." It had been hours since Anna had arrived at the police station. Her stomach growled it's irritation at having not eaten since breakfast but the policeman ignored the noise pollution.

"You have to understand Miss…what did you say your sir name was again? Ah, never mind. It's just strange that a young girl, "The leading officer eyed down at Anna's chest before continuing," I mean…young lady, would be able to take down a grown man, especially while said man is under the effects of intoxicants." As it turned out, Mr. Tanaka was the owner of "Eclectic Collections" and was currently being held under guard in the hospital under suspicion of drug use. During the course of the interrogation, Anna determined that in a fit of insanity, Mr. Tanaka had attacked the poor old woman with a paint brush just as she asked him the price of a set of ear rings. This resulted in her being streaked in deep red paint, Mr. Tanaka's reddened fingernails, and Anna being caught "red-handed" after having touched the victim's shoulder.

"Mr. Tanaka was off-balanced when he tried to jump at us. All I had to do to defend myself was put the broom in his way. I really didn't take down anyone… just inconvenienced an attack." Anna stated, hoping that the finality of her voice would convince the questioning officer. "Besides, I couldn't sit and watch while some guy tried to frisk an old woman."

"Look Miss… Anna, you say that you had only just gotten to the scene before Mr. Tanaka sprang out of his shop, but you ended up covered in more paint that he did." The policeman eyed Anna from across the table, setting his coffee down with an authoritative clink as he prepared to make his accusation.

"Because I tried to touch her to get her attention…" Anna started but was cut short.

The officer laid his hands flat on the table in what was supposed to be an attention grabbing gesture. In the pose, Anna thought, he looked somewhat akin to a sphinx. "It seems you might have been there before you're telling us. Mr. Tanaka is an upstanding citizen; he's not likely to get drunk or otherwise unless it's not his choice."

Anna frowned and nodded her head forward slightly, looking up at him with narrowed emerald eyes. "So, what you mean to say is that you think I planned to drug some shop owner just to watch the mayhem?" Her voice was low and as menacing as she could muster. It had not been a good morning, but throwing in an accusation like this one made the events earlier pale by comparison.

"Well miss Anna," The officer started, "Are you aware that a bit of jewelry was taken from the shop not two days before? And I see from your records that you just got to town real recently." His voice was slurred in a way typical of the south. Normally, Anna found that accent charming, but at the moment she wished he would choke on his coffee. "Now, I don't mean to say you have anything to do with that, but…"

The policeman eyed her in a way that said, "I absolutely think you had something to do with it." And in an outrage, Anna's mind couldn't think of the obvious flaws in his logic. Why would he just assume a college-bound co-ed would have anything to do with a robbery, let alone an attack on a stranger? Was he so eager to close the case in his quiet little district that anyone whom he could blame would provide him an out? After all, there were witnesses that watched Anna touch the old woman's shoulder right?

"Haven't you talked to anyone else? They would have seen me heading to the grocery store." At this point, Anna sounded flustered and desperate. Initial outrage had given way towards the strong desire to just go home. She would just have to explain to the Pristons why she didn't get their groceries later.

"All anyone else is saying is that they heard a scream, and then watched you beat Mr. Tanaka with a broom handle while you crotched over the victim. No one has said anything about you calling for help when Mr. Tanaka jumped at you and no one saw you going to the grocer's. It's like you were there all ready." It was clear that all though the officer was trying to make his accusation fit together, very little of it was based on evidence. None-the-less he seemed sure of himself, as if he had been looking for the jewelry thief for years and following this lead was as close to finding the culprit and missing jewelry as he had ever come. Did he actually believe that Anna was responsible?

"May I ask you if you are actually going to charge me with anything?" Anna asked.

"Not today." The officer smiled lightly, and then narrowed his eyes in an almost hungry fashion. It was a promise that this would not be the last time Anna would see him.

Anna was finally free of the police station, or at least she was outside of it. Rather than to ask one of the officers for a ride home, she had opted to just walk. As it turned out, she still had a few hours of daylight and felt guilty about losing the Priston's grocery money. She called them and was able to get a quick list together over the phone. Fortunately the town was small, so she only had a bit over a mile to go to get to the grocery store, and about a half mile to get home from there. As Anna rounded the corner to make it the last block to the market, she reflected back on the day's events.

It seems that she was quickly becoming immersed in a robbery investigation she knew nothing about. All though Anna had regarded the town as welcoming, it was now apparent that her initial assessment had been somewhat off the mark. While the bulk of the town seemed accepting, clearly the police officers were quick to blame outsiders. How ironic that her rushing to help someone had resulted in her being under suspicion of both a random attack and somehow being linked to a random theft. Quietly, Anna began to wonder how random all of the day's events actually were. She looked over her shoulder, and sighed as she realized that this would have to become a new habit of hers. She was not going to be surprised again.

With a bit of luck, Anna was able to buy all of the Priston's desired foods out of pocket. Not only would she have been embarrassed to say she lost their money, but she didn't want to start out a relationship looking untrustworthy. They had been kind to her, and were understanding about her being late with their errands. She smiled that the day left her enough time to cook the Priston's dinner and finish with a jog in the dense woods outside of her new home. As Anna laced up her running shoes, she quickly drank a glass of water before bounding out of the door, more than ready to work off some stress.

If Anna had thought the hilly street sides had been a tough running terrain, she was seriously out of shape here in the forest. She had only been out for about 20 minutes or so, but all ready she felt like she had run a marathon. Thinking back to the conversation she had had with Mrs. Priston the day before, she had expected to see the historical park by now. Instead, the trail seemed endless but that didn't matter to Anna. It was beautiful out in the woods. And she smiled in relief as she realized that the buzz and lights of the town could no longer be detected this far from civilization. Anna looked at the path ahead of her to check it for debris. Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath to fill her senses with the smells of the wild, and promptly tripped.

Anna crashed forward in an utterly unladylike fashion. Her hind-end high in the air and chest smashed against the trail before her, Anna was very happy no one was here to see her. She rose up to rest on her elbows and coughed out the dust she inhaled in her fall. Tucking her legs underneath her, Anna looked around with a dear-in-headlights expression until she noticed what she tripped on.

A shiny object which caught the light even in the darkness of the forest gleamed red. Anna was mesmerized, and foolishly curious. She got up, drawn to the object as if it had called her name. As she reacted to the thrall of the shinning red gem, Anna ignored the blood dripping down her forearms from the scraps collected from the fall. It was a bracelet inlaid with a deep red ruby, and one that Anna instantly recognized. This was the very same from the picture in the newspaper. Anna only half noted that while she had thought the newspaper's picture showed a beautiful, but boring piece, this one was magnificent. _Perhaps some things you need to see in person to appreciate_, Anna thought. She crouched down to pick up the bracelet. And as her fingers just barely touched the gem, Anna screamed.

Her wrist was burning and she looked in horror to see the bracelet lift itself off of the ground to slide forcefully onto her wrist. As she gasped and tried to claw off the cursed jewelry it tightened, superheating and shrinking to burn its image into Anna's naked wrist. Just as Anna thought she would feint from the pain of the bright hot metal burning her flesh it stopped, and the bracelet disintegrated before her eyes. As Anna gripped her wrist to her heart she fell back, to see the image of someone above with features so striking she could never forget.

Cold golden eyes gazed at her passively, as if her pain merely bored him. His hair blew across his face, so the tall man brushed the strands away from his eyes. It was at that moment that Anna registered his non-human features. His fingertips were adorned with claws instead of blunt human nails. His eyes were an impossible shade of gold and his hair was as silver as winter wind. Most notable however, were a set of pointed fox-like ears stationed to hear any move Anna would make. It was terrifying to think that even if this figure's expression was only slightly bemused, his attention was so perfectly tuned to her that she doubted he missed even one of the heart beats. She giggles slightly, as if thinking that she had finally lost her mind and fell into sleep as she heard footfalls walking away from her.


	2. Chapter 2

Meeting the Youko Chapter 2

Hey there,

Just to let everyone know, this story will contain graphic depictions of a variety of sexual situations, violence, and other potentially unpalatable concepts. I will try to mark the chapters where these will take place, but beware that I marked the rating for a reason. If you choose to continue reading, I hope you enjoy.

**START HERE:**

It wasn't until morning that Anna finally woke up. Her hair was matted with dead leaves and the bruises she had taken in her fall had turned an ugly reddish color on her skin. Shooting her gaze down at her clothes, Anna noted that her shirt had ripped suggestively at the mid section. She now looked like she was trying to attract some attention, showing just a bit too much mid drift. Anna pulled out her pony tail and tried to comb her hair with her fingers. As she pulled out yet another twig, Anna looked at her wrist to see an angry red chain imprint. Staring blankly, she recalled her events from the night before and tried to keep her breathing steady as panic threatened to overtake her.

Since she had arrived, she had managed to get unofficially accused of drugging a jewelry shop owner, stealing from him, and apparently had become possessed by a bracelet from hell. Anna scratched her wrist, earning further red irritation around the barely visible burn. At least the mark proved her sanity. But still, the striking amber eyes of a silver haired man stood out in her mind as the defining feature in her memory. Despite all other strangeness, the figure stood as the most poignant image of crystal clarity. He was a dark promise of explanation, and Anna had no doubt that he would be the one to clear the mystery from the peculiar events unfolding before her.

Anna stood up and finished dusting herself off. Screening the area around for the mysterious silver haired man, Anna opted to run the way back home. Her muscles screamed at her to stop, but as she found her way back out of the woods and trotted across the Priston's back yard she could practically feel the soothing effects of the hot shower she would be taking all ready. Before her fantasy of easing out of her ruined clothes could come to fruition, Mr. Priston stood in her path.

He was a stout man with a white mustache and a full head of white hair. He wore a hunting outfit, and all ready had his rifle in hand. Anna gulped unconsciously as eyes fixed disapprovingly at the torn mid drift of her shirt.

"Interest night? Eh' Anna?" He said in a none-too friendly way.

"I seemed to have tripped while running last night." Anna replied, in a sweet voice she hoped would divert some of the military tone he was taking with her.

Mr. Priston nodded his head down towards her arm, the one which now shown a bright red mark around the wrist. "You wouldn't be out partying all night, would ya'? ' Seem to have a bit of a hicky there." He stated, causing Anna to blush in a flustered sort of way. It was a strange hicky if it went all the way around the wrist…or did he think Anna had been tied up last night?

"…Just a bruise from the fall, Mr. Priston." Anna said hurriedly. All though she smiled warmly at her landlord; she was actually ready to smack him if he made any comments about her "partying" with anyone. It was clear that the party he thought she had attended was only for two. Anna decided a change of subjects was in order. "Would you like me to plant the roses today?"

Mr. Priston nodded, having accepted her response and chosen not to grill her too hard about where she had been. In truth, he was a stern man, but not an unyielding one. To him, what she chose to do in the bedroom was completely up to her…clearly she could still be a sweet young lady the rest of the day.

Anna closed her eyes and smiled, excusing herself before her temper could flare. She was not used to having someone assume she had run off to have wild random relations in a stranger's bed all night. Chiding to herself about maintaining her patience, Anna went up into her apartment and stripped to enjoy a hot shower. As Anna washed and scrubbed her body clean of dirt she sighed with exhaustion. Wincing preliminarily, she brought the soup to her burned wrist and prepared for the upcoming pain. Her first reaction was surprise; the soap didn't burn when she touched it to the bracelet's mark. The second was relief until finally, Anna was alarmed. Pain is a normal warning sign from the body. Had her nerve tissue been damaged? As she scrubbed more vigorously at the mark, Anna watched in alarm as skin peeled away from the burn site. Perfectly undamaged skin lay underneath it; leading Anna to set the soap down to scratch at the wound with bare fingernails. As she scraped the last bit of burnt tissue away, Anna noticed a red rose petal, almost like a tattoo, above her veins on the inner side of her wrist. She had been marked, and she was fairly sure she knew who marked her.

After the shower, Anna had promised herself that she would only just "shut her eyes for a bit" and ended up only waking when her phone rang. The evening sunset had all ready started painting the sky in pinks and greens before Anna headed down into the yard to plant the roses.

"Hello Anna," the man on the phone said, "This is officer Saede from the police station. You remember me from the interrogation room? Mr. Tanaka has regained his senses and would like to talk with you. 'Says he remembers a couple of strangers coming in a few nights ago right about the time those jewelry pieces ended up stolen. I couldn't help but notice you got to town that very same night. Would you mind coming down to the station so we clear up this little mess?" All though the police officer spoke as if this was some big misunderstanding, he was obviously so content to waste his time accusing an outsider that reason didn't even make it playing field. Anna was more than finished with going along with officer Saede's blatant prejudice.

"Oh I'm so sorry Officer Saede. I have work to do for the Pristons and can't make it right now. Maybe some other time." If Anna sounded curt over the phone, it was no match to the icy expression she glared to no one in particular. The policeman tried to convince her to come over but Anna interrupted. Saying something about being very busy, she hung up the phone without waiting for a goodbye. He had annoyed her to the point of rudeness, and Anna had to count to ten before her frustration caused her to throw a child sized tantrum. It wasn't like her to act so childish, even in the most irritating of circumstances. However the more she thought about how her new beginning in a new town had turned south, the less control she seemed to have over her temper. She knew this was only out of disappointment, but the thought was hardly a comforting one.

Anna leaned back over her chair and stretched her arms over her head. Exhaling with more force than was necessary, she got up and headed down to plant some roses. The evening air hit her and refreshed her mind even more than her rest had. The Pristons seemed to have retired early for the day, but had left instructions on where to plant the roses. As she picked up the pots and hauled them over to the edge of the property, Anna smiled as she leaned in to smell the flowers. Earthy, but full of a sweet organic smell, the red hues of the roses would look nice next to the dark lush green of the forest. Anna grabbed a shovel and got started digging the first hole.

The Pristons had bought five rose bushes in total, and Anna was just getting started on the last one when she heard a car pull into the Priston's driveway. Frowning, Anna stood up from her hunched over position and used her forearm to wipe sweat from her eyes. She furrowed her brow as she watched a blue uniformed man approach her, not even bothering to call out his name. She knew the man, Officer Saede had been her interrogator from the day earlier and she all ready didn't think too highly of him. His appearance, unannounced, registered as arrogant pride in Anna's mind. She scowled at him, and thought about turning to continue planting the roses before deciding against it. His eyes were disapproving and condescending. Anna didn't much feel like turning her back to him.

"Since you couldn't make it to the station, I thought I would come to you. We can talk while you work." The officer reasoned, relaxed enough to lean against a ginkgo tree beside him.

Anna started to make motions in protest, but heard a noise from the woods and stopped short. Her heartbeat palpitated and she could feel her face paling. Maybe she was still jumpy from the night before.

Officer Saede brushed his hands under his nose and sniffed. "…probably just some animal, miss. Maybe a fox or something."

Anna looked at the officer quizzically. Recalling the strange features from the silver haired man before, she realized that his ears looked like a fox's ears. His eyes held intelligence but also an animalistic side Anna only imagined in her more impassioned dreams. Officer Saede only raised a brow at her saying, "or maybe it was an old owl or something." He stepped forward when another set of noises sounded around the cove of the forest.

One twig broke a few feet back into the darkness of the woods, and some leaves crunched a few meters away. Officer Saede stepped forward and stuck his hand towards his gun. Gesturing for Anna to back away, he slipped in beside her unplanted rose bush and knocked it out of the way. Soil spilled out of the plant's pot and Anna moved forward to set the plant right. The officer glanced back in an annoyed way, but never mentioned anything about telling Anna to get away from the woods. Turning, he said that the animals must be restless tonight before returning the conversation to the robbery and assault.

"Wouldn't you know it, but Mr. Tanaka doesn't remember anything about the strangers who came into his shop that day, and we weren't able to find any drugs in his system. He does however, remember you hitting him with a broom. He wants to charge you with assault. Seeing as how we only have your word and some unreliable witness reports, it boils down to your word against his."

Anna shook her head, "What about the woman who was attacked first." She felt a jolt of sadness as the officer told her that the woman had passed on from a heart attack while recovering in the hospital.

Officer Saede looked almost smug as he stepped closer to Anna through her freshly planted roses. She was aware of the height difference between them. As she thought he would reach up and grab her to take her back to the horrid police station again, he stumbled just a bit. Both Anna and the policeman looked down to see his ankle caught up in a vine from one of the rose bushes. He spouted out a few curses and tried to jerk his leg free. Anna's eyes widened as she saw the vine only coil tighter around officer Saede's foot. His shouted a guttural noise and reached forward to grab Anna's arms as leverage. He was being pulled by the vine into the ground.

"Get an Axe!" He shouted, letting go of Anna with enough force to cause her to fall backwards. Breathing deeply with a terrified pale look on her face, she ran back towards the garden shed and quickly found a small axe. When she arrived back to the rose garden she found two more vines wrapping themselves around both of the police officer's arms. "Shit!" he cussed aloud, and looked desperately at Anna to start cutting. Anna reached back and took a carefully placed swing at one of the vines. It didn't even make a dint. The Axe bounced off as if Anna had struck steel and her arm reverberated with the shock.

"It won't cut!" Anna was crying now, and dropped to her knees to start pulling at the tightening vines. The officer shouted at her to keep pulling at the vines but no amount of tugging would budge them. His body was slipping into the dirt at an alarming rate and as he tried to scream, a vine tipped with a rose bud found its way to his jaw. Officer Saede's curses were muffled as the rose bud opened into a full bloom in his mouth. Anna screamed and attempted to start her struggles to free him anew only to slide in the grass which came to life below her feet. It writhed in such a way Anna couldn't hope to gain her footing but it made no attempt to grab her. She watched Officer Saede's face tuck under the dirt as the rose pulled him down to the roots. She then noticed a silver shimmer and out from the forest walked a black-winged man with dark hair and a wide brimmed hat. Beside him, the silver haired fox from earlier.

Anna froze, staring up at the two men in shell shock. The winged one smirked and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Looking towards the silver fox he muttered, "Apparently the human world hasn't made any advancements in protecting their maidens." He gestured to the upturned dirt that marked officer Saede's grave.

The silver haired fox took a step closer to Anna and chimed in his response, "It would appear that she needed protection against her protector. Perhaps you should thank us, human." The kitsune raised a brow at Anna and waited for her to respond. He grinned as he watched her close her eyes tightly together and try to blink the confusion away. Her lips were somewhat parted in a bewildered fashion, forcing the fox to notice the fullness of them. Anna's hands slipped into the grass and dug into the dirt. She gripped the earth like it would protect her from the bizarre apparitions in front of her.

"You killed him." Anna whispered, though her comment was more to the wind than to the fox who had taken a few steps closer to her. Anna was in a quiet panic, her eyes widening and tears threatening to pour over her lashes. But Anna was not an animal that would allow herself to be cornered so easily. Reaching beside her to the forgotten axe, she hurled the Axe like a tomahawk at her attackers. As she turned and hurried to sprint towards the apartment stairs, she hardly had the time to notice the amused stares from her assailants.

Quicker than she could blink, the bat winged demon was on her, grabbing her upper arms from behind and hoisting her to stand of the tips of her toes. "Get the hell off of me!" Anna screamed and attempted to kick backwards in the hopes of hitting a soft spot.

His bat wings rustled in annoyance, and the dark haired stranger turned to hold her out to his bemused partner. The kitsune stepped closer and stopped barely a few feet away. Anna stopped her struggling to watch him lift a delicate hand to his own throat. Reaching under his hair, he lifted the chain of a necklace, making sure that Anna could get a perfect view. Around his neck was the matching necklace from the robbery. Its ruby pendant gleamed a menacing glow which resulting in Anna whimpering from a renewed burning sensation in her wrist.

"I hadn't planned on testing the power of the subjugation crystals on a human." He spoke, his voice deep and with a growling undertone. "So I do hope that you will continue to fight the whole way to the Makai. I would like to test the charm's power." The fox smirked just slightly and reached forward to brush the hair from Anna's face. As he did so the bat let go of Anna's arms, initially causing her to stumble forward. Anna's stubbornness took over and she decided to use the momentum of the trip to swing a right hook at the fox's fair skinned face. He growled and before she could register Anna found herself across the yard and pinned against the ginkgo tree Officer Saede had leaned against not moments before.

"I'm not going anywhere." Anna's voice shook in a medley of rage and fear.

The fox only leaned forward, sliding his hand on either side of her against the tree trunk. "You'll learn I've killed for less infractions." The fox promised.

Before Anna could stop herself she spoke, " …like with Officer Saede." Anna gasped at her own stupidity and closed her eyes tightly as she expected the killing blow to strike her. Instead, she opened her eyes to see the kitsune with the necklace's ruby pinched between two clawed fingers. Pressing his fingers tighter a burning erupted under her skin. Starting at the mark on her wrist, the pain moved up her arm as the fox pinched the gem harder in his fingertips. She whimpered and gasped, sliding down the tree trunk to fall to her knees. Anna made a nonsensical cry from within her throat and looked up at the fox baring and intolerant expression down at her. "Please stop." She begged in a whisper, ashamed to hear such submission coming from her own voice. The pain continued for a while longer before the fox finally stopped his punishment.

His voice lowered a few decimals as he spoke his promise to the human maiden before him. "While I where this gem around my neck, you will belong to me. I alone hold the key to your release and torment." The fox flicked his tail behind him as he continued, "I am Youko Kurama, and you are the new property of the Makai thieves' guild." Anna watched his eyes completely unaware of the bat demon's approach. As Youko stepped aside, Anna's gaze caught the swinging pendent in the dark haired one's hand.

"Sleep." The youkia ordered. And Anna slumped against the bark behind her, unaware as they carried her off from the forest of the human world to the dense undergrowth of the Makai woods.


	3. Chapter 3

Meeting the Youko Chapter 3

Youko and Kuronue arrived back in the demon world sporting a bundle of human over one shoulder. Kuronue hardly noticed the weight of the girl but registered the delicateness in which he must carry her. Though it was hardly for his benefit, he knew that Youko wouldn't likely appreciate it if he damaged the girl before they even made it back to the guild. Kuronue smiled to himself about how poetic it was that they should find her planting roses. He would chide Youko about it later, much to the fox's chagrin.

Youko stole a glance over to the package his demon partner carried. She still had dirt under her nails from digging for the rose bushes and had a few bits of bark in her hair from the ginkgo tree. Her tears had collected dust from the air, hiding the fairness of her skin. She was lovely for a human, but Youko would hardly waste his time consorting with a one. The woman had been the unlucky target which would provide him a route in which to deal with the human-eating youkia of the demon world. He would present her as a wild-thing, one who's "flavor" hadn't been altered by the constant flux of demonic energy in the Makai. All though he rarely dealt with the S class bound to refuel their energy with the flesh of psychics, Youko never had a reputation for being unprepared.

Anna winced and muttered something about "monsters" as the pair leaped over a large stream skirting the edge of their territory. Momentarily, her own energy circulated more powerfully within her veins. It wasn't enough to wake her from Kuronue's pendant induced sleep, but it was enough to get the bat's arm to tighten around her form. He doubted that even the girl was aware of her own psychic ability, but they could never have taken her to the demon world had she been a regular human. Kuronue and Youko shared a glance of knowing as only two brothers in arms could. It seemed that this human managed to have the odds stacked against her without even being aware of it.

They approached a cliff side decorated in a variety of demon plants all writhing threateningly at the approaching pair. All though their footsteps barely sounded on the ground, the movement alerted the plants to narrow their sights on the potential intruders. Youko took the lead, jumping ahead of the bat to land and walk confidently towards the thorn baring vines of one of his newly placed specimens.

"I see you've rooted yourself well, Scythen." Youko mused to the plant. Scythen was a proud youkia tree standing twenty feet tall and more than half again as wide. Youko had noticed it on a heist of spirit world guarding one of the banks of the river Styx. Even there it had been foreboding; with it sickly green leaves and burnt looking vines complete with a trunk that appeared to be peeling off layers of bark. Of course, the way in which the tree looked so starved of water and nourishment was only a way of bringing in prey. Now infused with Youko's own demon energy, his youki, Scythen's leaf cover had swelled to twice its bulk and its leafy vines now dripped with paralyzing poison. Had the plant been from the human world, Youko expected biologists would have called it a new type of weeping willow with a poison defense. Youko reached forward and touched the back of his hand against a few leaves, earning a shuttering response as the tree recognized him. Pulling its branched apart, Scythen created a path leading down a small staircase to the entrance of the thieves' guild.

"Take the woman to the holding cells in the east corridor." Kuronue ordered a young sea demon as he stepped into his home. "See that she is given water and rations."

Youko shook out his hair in an attempt to get the human world's scent off of him. "And also have one of the females get her to the servant's baths. The scent of her civilization will easily alert our enemies to the guild's location." Youko added, scantly noticing the way the sea demon lowered his gaze to avoid eye contact with him. As he turned to walk further into the depths of his Cliffside hideaway, Youko heard Anna's breathing quicken in the promise of soon rising from sleep. She had a better resistance to Kuronue's charms than either demon would have guessed.

Anna opened her eyes to find herself in a room that seemed to be carved out of nothing but stone. Tulip like flowers served as light sources and were scattered about in seemingly random order. She lay atop a set of brown blankets long past their prime on what appeared to be a Japanese platform bed. Sitting upright, Anna found herself nearly overcome with an intense wave of nausea. Clearly, she would have to move very slowly for a while. Taking caution to stand at a sloth's pace, Anna stood to walk forwards to the only entrance or exit to the room. The door was well crafted with swirls of garden designs cascading to a silver gilded handle. Anna was nervous about touching it, remember how the two youkia had used the environment of the rose garden to kill Officer Saede. She wondered the fox had set a trap for her by providing her with such an easy route of escape as a single door. Bracing herself, Anna turned the handle.

Naturally, the door only clicked in annoyance. "Of course, the door would be locked." Anna blew hair out of her face in irritation. As she turned to press her back against the door and slide down to sit on the floor, she fought back the burning desire to cry out that she had been holding since awakening to the demon world. Had anyone asked her a week ago, never would she have imaged that the animal aberrations that brought her here could possibly exist. The thought of trying to survive in a world she knew nothing about was more than overwhelming, but another thought pressed against the back of her mind. She had not spoken to anyone since arriving in the Makai, but she was instantly aware that this was a world of demons…far from the one she had left behind.

"Psychics can detect the underlying youki of the demon world. It's really not so strange that you can tell you're not in Ningenkai any longer." The voice was high pitched and sweet sounding. Whoever spoke couldn't be a day over 18, Anna thought to herself. The voice sounded once more from the other side of the door, "Actually, I'm 148."

This time Anna chose to be the one to chime in, hoping she didn't sound as queasy as she still felt, "You're also telepathic." Anna pushed away from the door and looked down to see a shadow flooding amidst the crack under the door. The silhouette didn't give her much information about who the demoness speaking so openly to her was, but it did tell her that the girl had a tail. "I'm Anna of the human world." Anna decided that it was up to her to make the formal introductions, "May I ask who you are?"

The demoness murmured lowly with a reverberated noise that could only come from deep within her chest before speaking. "I'm Anya, of the Makai. I'm going to open your door now."

Standing before Anna was a tall, thin representation of a cat demoness. Her eyes were slanted yellow in the feline fashion and she sported spots of fur clearly patterned like a mau housecat. She flicked her tail in what appeared to be anticipation. "I've been ordered to clean you of your human stench." Anya spoke cheerfully, clearly unaware at how rude it sounded. She frowned apologetically after gauging the reaction her comment made. Whether her sudden embarrassment was from Anna's disapproving glare or Anya reading the equally disapproving thoughts of the psychic before her was anyone's guess.

Anna decided that it was probably best to just ignore any social awkwardness the demoness presented. Seeing as the cat demon wore clothes more typical of doing housework that fighting, it was possible that she had been assigned to jobs that didn't require any social grace.

Anya pouted with legitimate trepidation as she turned her back to Anna. "It's the telepathy." She explained, "You try to have a normal conversation when half of the information is passed strait from the other person's mind."

Anna felt instantly guilty, but also relieved. Before the cat apparition had arrived to carry her off to bathe, she had felt the beginning pangs of feeling particularly bad for herself. The full effects of being trapped in another world had been momentarily sedated now that she had found someone she could at least talk to. It was calming even if her mind was completely open to the other woman. "Do you mean to say that you can't turn your telepathy on or off?" Anna asked, hoping to continue the conversation with the pretty young demoness a little while longer.

Anya turned around and fixed Anna with a gape-mouthed stare before answering, "No, only a few of my tribe can. My brother can, but not me." She stated, quickly turning melancholy again. Clearly Anya was as moody as they come.

Anna signed inwardly before asking, "Can you help me walk? I've not been feeling so great since I woke up. It looks like your starting to grow two tails." Indeed, as Anna's vision teetered between blurry and perfect clarity, the cat youkia seemed to have a split tail.

Anna heard a jingle-bell like sound slip past the cat's lips. She was laughing at Anna like she thought she had just heard a joke. "Oh that's right, you _are_ new here! I'm a nekomata. And the two fellows you met before are Kuronue, who is a bat demon, and Youko who is of course a kitsune…but he has a spirit fox form too." Anya reached down to yank Anna up like she was going to rip out her arm. All though it was obvious that this telepathic cat youkia was not particularly powerful, she was still strong enough to crush Anna should she try to run.

Anya led Anna down the corridor turning a few lefts and a right before ending up facing a set of double doors. The doors showed a water scene of a satyr chasing naiads amidst a gently flowing water fall and some sakura trees. Water lilies in full bloom managed to lace over the breasts and hips of the naiads, while the satyr's hip was turned so that the goatman's frontal view was saved for only the water nymphs carved in the woodwork of the doors. Anya nodded a "yes" to Anna when she mentally asked her if this was the path to the baths.

The bath layout was formed in a way to conserve as much of the natural beauty of the cave-work as possible. Pools steamed from an inner source of heat, possible youki fueled, amidst shinning black stone which seemed to function as mirrors. Anya stepped behind Anna to guide her to a pool that didn't seem too likely to boil her skin. "This will be your first and last trip to these baths, as such is the will of the guild masters. These are our baths." Anya finished.

Anna assumed correctly that these were baths only meant for demon-kind. Her temporary visit was only tolerated so that her pores would take in the scent of youkia carried within the steam. Possessing only a human's sense of smell was clearly a disadvantage. Should she try to escape, Anna realized she would have to be especially careful not to leave a scent trail behind her.

Though the air was warm, a shock of cold sensation hit her abruptly as Anna felt the cat claws of her demoness escort shred the clothes from her back. She was left bare, with nothing but her own hair to cover her breasts and her hands to modestly try and cover any other bit of sensitive flesh she could find. Anna took the hint, and stepped forward to dip a toe into the water. There was no sense in protesting a bath, her body practically beckoned her to clean off the dirt chaffing against her skin. So Anna glided into the water, first shivering even in the immediate warmth of the bath. Anya had taken to perching on one of the stones to gaze at her reflection in a blackened mirror. She yawned, wider than humanly possible and showed a set of pearly white canines on either side of her mouth. She gave the mirror a cat smile, and used the reflection cast to watch Anna swim to the center of the bathing pool.

At the center, Anna couldn't hope to touch the bottom. The water was perfectly clear, so she took the opportunity to dive down. She hoped Anya's telepathy could reach far, as she searched in vain to find a port in the bottom of the pool which provided the bath water. Maybe if it was big enough, Anna could take her chances and hold her breath long enough to ride it out of her captor's keep. Anna swam deep enough to hear her ears pop before she realized that there wasn't any hope she could find the port before her need for air forced her to the surface. As she resurfaced to gulp air, Anya tossed her a glass container full of what could be called bath soap. The bottle landed just a bit short of Anna's position and she watched the glass bottle drift towards the bottom. Feeling much like Anya had asked her to play fetch, she dove to grab the bottle before it sank to deep to recover.

Anya did nothing but smile her cat grin again as she started to fix her hair in the mirror, seemingly unaware of the irritated expression adorning Anna's face. Swimming back over to the bank of the pool, Anna dripped a bit of the soapy liquid in her hand before running it through her hair. Her hair seemed to untangle effortlessly in her fingers, becoming almost more lustrous than it had been after washing it in her own shower. "Demons really know how to make hair products." Anna commented to Anya, noted that the demoness ignored her with a few flicks of her split tail. Anna blew out a bit of air in frustration, before standing to use some of the soap over her body.

Anna started with the top, dripping a bit onto her shoulders and trying to ease some muscle tension out with self massage. Taking care to wash her arms thoroughly, Anna moved on to swirl the soap around her breasts. She moved down to wash her stomach, back, and butt before stopping to get a bit more soap from the bottle. Since Anna spent more time working her legs than any other part of her body, they always got more attention. As Anna started massaging the soap into her other leg, her prison guard chose to speak up.

"I would be careful moving like that in from of the males. They might begin to think you're asking for it." Anya taunted.

Anna scowled, "Moving like what, and what am I asking for?"

Anya smiled, "Maybe I should invite one in here so you can see."

At this point, the quiet malice Anna was holding within was threatening to flood over. When they had met, Anna would have described the cat as a bit fickle, but otherwise happy-go-lucky. Now, she seemed to be almost a different person, her mood had soured to almost snobbish. Anya still sat with her back turned to the quietly raging woman clothed only in bath soap. Anna wondered, what could change to make Anya becoming so indifferent?

"Anya, I have to ask." Anna spoke, not waiting for Anya's tail to flick in attention, "Your telepathy wouldn't also be tied with empathic ability, would it?"

Anya mewed an affirmative, then ordered Anna to rinse as she scuffed off arrogantly to get her new clothes to wear. _So that was it_, thought Anna, the cat's personality changes depending on who she's around. That meant that while the nekomata was alone with Anna, she would reflect the friendly qualities of her own personality. Now that she was surrounded by what was likely the female youkia's corridor, she reflected the attitudes they most likely would have with her. Anya was like a mood ring.

As soon as Anna had dawned the plain white dress that might as well have been called an over sized T-shirt, she had been dragged back down the corridor towards her holding cell. As they walked, Anna watched the cat aberration's shoulders drop, and her chin lower so her nose wasn't quite so high in the air. When Anya turned to look at the human woman beside her, her smile was no longer pretentious, but showed warmth buried within feline playfulness. Anna wondered how much of the cat's personality was her own, and how much she reflected what was around her. It was entirely possible that the demoness didn't even register the change when her moods switched to what was around her.

"You're the only one we have down this way. You'll have to scream pretty load if you want help." Anya told her captive. "Also, I think Youko will be down to see you tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'm jealous or feel sorry for you."

Anna chuckled a little, "Thanks for your honesty. Do you know what I can expect?" Anna twirled her hair in the nervous fashion she did when she didn't know what to expect out of a situation. She turned to watch the Neko's shoulders stiffen up and the hair on her exposed cat-patterned patches raise up to give her an alarmed look. The image hardly did anything to improve Anna's anxiety.

As Anna found herself placed back in her stone walled room, she watched the feline give her one last parting stare before looking the door behind her. Anna walked towards the platform bed, hoped that nothing would crawl out of it, and fell atop it without even bothering to slide under the covers. She would dream of nothing both the silver fox and pine over the upcoming day.


	4. Chapter 4

Meeting the Youko Chapter 4

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay. The school semester is in full swing and I clearly underestimate how much studying I would have to do. It seems like when I think I'm going to have time to chill out (and write another chapter) I end up getting called into work or having to run an errand. As such, I expect my updates will probably only be once or twice a week. I would love to post sooner, but I'm simply not home to do so. Anyway, on to the next chapter…

START HERE:

Anxiety read clearly across Anna's face as she heard the scuttling noise of an approach to her cell door. The nekomata had mentioned that she would be visited by her captor, Youko Kurama, at some point the next day and Anna feared that the meeting was stepping closer.

She didn't know what time she had woken up that morning, but when she opened her eyes she hadn't felt rested. Throughout the night she had dreamt of Officer Saede's face sliding under the dirt as he tried to use his own chin to pry himself out of his grave. Images of his death intermixed with thoughts of her new rose tattoo burning intensely enough to melt the flesh off of her muscles. She had awoken a few feet from the platform bed with bit of stuffing thrown like confetti across the chamber room. Her threadbare excuse for a blanket was wrapped around her like a straitjacket and it appeared that she had tried to claw her way out of the demon world by burrowing through the mattress. Anna doubted very much that the next demon she would see would appreciate the mess at all. Now as the noise sounded louder from the other side of the door, she expected to meet a foreboding set of eyes.

The door opened to reveal an aberration closely resembling a naga, with only a male human head to prove he was anything other than a very large snake. His reptilian skin was painted shinning black with a white underbelly, but his human face was handsome in a dark kind of way with hair that hung in strings away from his face. Anna tried to not stare at him gape-mouthed, but didn't find that too challenging as she watched the demon scan her bedchamber. He frowned at the scene and let his eyes land on the white sack of a dress Anna was wearing. Anna was still seated on the ground with the mess of mattress stuffing around her and her blanket in a tightened whirl across her front. She lowered her eyes from the youkai before her and closed them to watch the light from the corridor outside fade to dark.

Anna heard the snake slither closer and winced as the braced herself for his coils. She didn't expect him to kill her, but a bit of pain was likely considering his disgust at the state of her room. Instead, she felt a human hand touch her cheek and push a bit of hair away from her eyes. Opening them, she saw the hand had a scaled path on the back and followed the limp up to see that the naga now had a humanoid torso, complete with a patchwork of human skin and reptilian scales. In legend, naga could assume humanoid shape; Anna was finding that the more she learned of the youkai world, the more it resembled the myths and legends she grew up hearing.

Anna saw the snake-man's lips curl into a smirk as he moved his fingertips to touch lightly at her lips. "Naga women's lips are much thinner, but I find I like my women to pout. " The snake's voice was much as Anna anticipated it would be. Even at a normal speaking volume, he almost sounded like he was constantly whispering. Anna quickly unwrapped herself of the would-be blanket and stood up from her half-sitting, half-kneeling position. As she rose, so did the naga so that his head almost touched the ceiling. He smiled again, and Anna felt a chill run through her spine as she set one foot behind her so as to push off to a run if necessary. She focused her gaze to the floor in front of her incase she needed to bolt past the demon in escape. When she did, she noticed that the youkai's snake end flooded past the door and out to the corridor outside. Even if he moved slowly as he circled around her to her back, she doubted that he lacked the ability to move at near light-speed.

The demon now had coils of snake flesh in front of her to block her exit, but stood with his human portion behind her. She dare not look back for fear of seeing his face transformed into a viper's head with fangs bared. Silently the demon eased closer and lowered his height to be level with Anna's. Leaning in, the naga hovered his arms on either side of her and dipped his head to be face to face with Anna's unkempt wild hair. Anna felt his fork tongue tickle the back of her ear.

Without thinking, she twirled on her outstretched foot to turn and face the snake youkai. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" Anna shouted, as she reached back with her hand to ready a right hook for the snake.

The aberration chuckled lightly, still sounding as if his voice was barely above a whisper. "I'm just offering you a promise, little human." He spoke. Anna watched the snake part his lips and flick his tongue suggestively behind his teeth. He smirked his snake-like smirk and raised his human section higher again to stand imposingly at Anna. As he did so, Anna became aware of the fact that she was a female standing before what was most likely a vision of masculinity in the naga population.

Anna steadied herself, setting her weight evenly between her feet and raising her chin to be parallel with the ground. Speaking softly she asked, "Are you to take me to the spirit fox?" Anna saw the snake pause as if he was remembering his reason for being there.

He closed his eyes and replied, "Youko has ordered me to fetch you to him…but not for some time now." He opened them to gage Anna's reaction. He hoped he saw the same signs of fear in her she showed before as he revealed the human touch he possessed. The aberration had to suppress an anticipatory grin at the thought of showing her that his lower portions could transform as well. "In the meantime," again the snake paused to watch Anna, "you are to be trained in the menial tasks assigned to you." With that finishing statement, the snake slithered his body around so that Anna could see the massive bulk of his well muscled snake section. He circled around so as to force her to step closer to the door. It was an unspoken command to follow, and Anna did so without hesitation. The further she ventured out of her stone-walled cage, the better her grasp of the guild's layout and the greater her chances of escape.

The Naga lead her down the same initial corridor that Anya had, leading Anna to believe that she was being kept at the very end of the hall. At first, Anna assumed that they put her there simply because the room was available…but Anya's personality towards her while in the stone cell proved otherwise. As she and the snake demon walked, several doors leading to what were likely similar holding chambers demonstrated that there very well could be other prisoners being held just like Anna. If that were true, it was very unlikely that Anya would have been so upbeat when they first met; she would have either taken her snobbish personality as she did in the bath chamber, or she likely would have been very gloomy to reflect the other prisoners' despair. That told Anna that she had been put at the very end of the long corridor, not for convenience, but to allow the guild to react if she tried to run for it.

Her snake-like guide flicked his tail impatiently as he urged her to walk faster. His temperament had become rather short since Anna had brought up meeting Youko. He had clearly been trying to approach a topic with her that Anna wanted to be far from when he had teased her earlier. Anna wondered if that frustration was due to being interrupted, or if he possessed a bitterness directly caused by the mention of the demon fox.

"You haven't asked what your services will be." The naga hissed in observation.

Anna nodded, assuming he would notice the gesture even if she walked behind him. "I assumed you would just be taking me there…not tasked with having to teach whatever 'menial' responsibility was assigned to me." Anna watched the naga stretch his hands in front of him and crack his knuckles. It was a clear sign of agitation that Anna hoped was due to having been assigned such a trivial job as escorting a prisoner.

"You were on my way, Little Human." The demon corrected, "I would gladly volunteer any service asked of Youko or Kuronue."

_Damn_, Anna thought. Apparently the snake was hardly a dense one; her hopes of agitating him against his commanders appeared to be futile. She had aspired to irritate him to a stupor with her underhanded insult. "Than may I ask you what I will be required to do?" Anna decided it was best to continue her innocent act and carry on the conversation.

The aberration slowed, waiting for Anna to get closer to walking beside him before speaking, "You shall be a gardener of human plants. Youko prefers to raise them without youki before harvesting." Anna saw his familiar smile play across his features. He glanced sidelong at her, making Anna instantly nervous to be alone with him. "Now you should ask my name, Little Human."

Anna practically curtsied her reply. It wasn't as though she was so femininely fickle, but a kind of Victorian age demeanor seemed to be her nervous habit. "Would you oblige?" Anna queried.

Now the snake demon smiled fully at her, keeping his eyes locked with her to cause Anna's face to pale slightly. "I am Tsuchinoko, called Tsuchi." He frowned as his sentence ended. Anna supposed that was to insure she called him by his proper name.

Nodding her acknowledgement, Anna continued answering, "Greetings Tsuchinoko, I am referred to as Anna. We've been walking quiet some while; I guess the garden is a far cry from my room."

Tsuchi laughed in a truly amused sort of way, "Oh we've passed several times now. I simply don't want to give you any chance to memorize our guild's ground lay. Anya warned me to watch how closely you pay attention to the turns of the corridors. It seems she heard your thoughts of hoping to find an escape route as she escorted you to wash last night."

Anna grimaced as her thoughts turned darker; Youko seemed to cover his bases. He had placed her in a cell far out of the way and difficult to navigate to and fro, arranged for a telepath to read her intentions, and then called in a very imposing snake youkai to insure she didn't try anything reckless. Anna even had the wild thought that he might have planned for her escort to be rather…vigilant about observing each of her more feminine characteristics. Maybe the fox was a bit of a sadist, or maybe the bat aberration just thought it would be amusing.

Tsuchi dropped Anna off, leaving her seemingly alone amidst a massive garden complete with every sort of tree or flower she has heard of, and many more she hadn't. The room was bright, illuminated seemingly be the sun, though the cave-top pattern of spiked stone continued across the mass of the garden. As Anna watched the naga close the door behind her, she noticed that it apparently didn't have a handle on the inside. When she heard the door lock from the other side, Anna was sure that it was yet another way of preventing her escape. She sighed, and blew a strand or two of hair away from her face before walking back to the door_. I might as well try_, Anna thought, and she readied herself to charge the door to try to shoulder it open.

Anna stood about twelve feet from the door and set her left foot back to push off. Taking in a breath, she charged forward at top speed and prepared herself for a jolt as she crashed into the door. The impact took the breath from her, but she did manage to rock the door just a bit. _Fantastic_, Anna thought, _Now I just need to do that about a hundred more times_. Speaking aloud, Anna continued, "And what am I even supposed to do here anyway."

Anna grunted in frustration, beat a fist against the door, and turned to walk away with an irritated sway to her stride. Walking through the sun-beds, Anna approached what appeared to be the shade garden of the human plants. Sitting amongst some Chinese lanterns and a variety of ivy she had never seen before, Anna jumped as she saw a tall shadow appear in front of her. Turning, she saw the spirit fox staring down at her with unreadable eyes.

"When you set foot in this room in the future, a task list will be made available to you." His voice was just as melodious as right after he killed the policeman, and still maintained the feint sound of a growl. "For now, I would like you to react as you please."

His command confused her; what did he mean when he asked her to react as she chooses? Youko raised his eyes and spoke, "Look behind you and you'll find the fruit baring trees of my garden. Go and fetch yourself nourishment."

Anna eyed him suspiciously, but decided it was best to follow his instructions. She turned heal but kept glancing back to insure the demon fox remained standing in the shade garden. As she walked through rows of sunflowers she found what Youko had indicated. Rows of dragon-fruit, apple, and pear trees organized beautifully to seem naturally placed even if they were perfectly coordinated. Anna bowed her arm and collected an assortment, making sure to get enough for a meal but no further. Still suspicious, she walked at a slower pace back to Youko.

He had chosen to relax against a nearby willow tree as he waited for her to return. Anna noticed with a smirk that he had clearly decided to follow her, seeing as he now had a peach in his hand to prove it. Youko glanced at her and shuffled his gaze to show her where to place the fruit. "I wouldn't eat that just yet. Wait until we're finished." Again, the fox was cryptic. He discarded the peach by manipulated a nearby plant to open its roots to him, allowing him to drop the fruit into the ground. The ground closed around the peach, and Anna heard rumblings as the earth took it deeper into itself. "Now, I want you to retrieve it. Dig the fruit back out with your hands." Youko commanded.

At first, Anna merely looked at him as if he was joking. The scowl across his lips told her otherwise, but Anna wasn't about to drop to her knees before him and start digging mindlessly in the dirt. As she started to part her lips to speak, near unbearable pain spread from the rose tattoo on her wrist. Anna stumbled in her attempt to remain standing, but was able to set a foot back to try and turn to run from the kitsune. In rhythm with her movements away, her heal burned just as the rose tattoo did, spreading a searing discomfort up through her limps to join at her center. Anna whimpered, earning a flick of the fox's ear in response. She glanced up to see the kitsune with a still unreadable expression, and one that showed her no signs of sympathy.

"Stop whatever you're doing. There isn't any point in torturing me to dig out a mud-covered piece of plant ovum." Anna spat out amidst her quickened and panting breaths.

Youko grunted slightly, indicating he clearly found the turn of events amusing. "I am not doing anything to you. Perhaps you should forsake your masochism if it displeases you."

_Masochism?_ Anna took a step forward out of sheer spite. She was not likely to submit to him even if the youkai used burning pain as a means to an end. As she set her first foot down on the ground, the pain lessened. Anna's eyebrow arched in confusion, but she took another step forward anyway. Once more, the burning receded to where only her arm felt aflame. This pattern continued until only the rose mark burned as she stood directly over where the peach lay buried.

"Retrieve it, Anna." Youko commanded again, this time with more of the rumblings of a growl in his throat. Anna felt chills rise up goose-bumps on her arm. The sheer energy he emitted in the order was enough to make Anna's new psychic sensitivity tingle in apprehension.

As the words exited Youko's parted lips Anna felt the pain anew itself, this time worse than before. The strength of his command seemed to play an integral role in the level of subjugation she felt from the rose mark. She felt her knees weaken, and dropped the ground as she held her stomach to try and manage some of the discomfort. Hating herself, Youko's third and final command to dig prompted her to claw her hand and rake it across the dirt. This time, the pain did not ease. She dug more fervently until her hands and nails were painted black from the moist soil of Youko's garden.

"I can't reach it." Anna whispered allowed, utterly disheartened and anticipating the continuation of the torture. To both her and the fox's surprise, Anna shoulders relaxed as the pain faded completely.

As Anna panted and looked at the ground before her, Youko stepped silently closer. His voice sounded softly and just as Anna had immediately prior, he spoke aloud though not necessarily to his company, "If you obey, you will not be harmed. If you refuse, you will feel agony increasing to heights you never thought possible. If you are incapable of performing my commands, you will feel no discomfort."

Anna looked up with the corners of her eyes teared red from the tightness in which she had closed them before. Youko looked at her, calmer and absent of his earlier coldness. Still, he was unreadable, but he seemed to be seeing Anna for the first time.

Youko leaned down and reached one of his clawed hands to lift Anna's face to meet his gaze. Anna closed her eyes, thinking that it was better to not see him at all that to follow any nonverbal communication his gestures implied. Youko ignored it, "Now that I understand the nature of the subjugation crystal, I will know exactly what you are capable of and what you simply refuse. As such, your use to me has lessened and you must now work each day to earn keep in my guild."

He waited for Anna to register his words, correctly interpreting the slowness in which her mind currently operated. To Anna, clear thoughts were a jumble and the only thing she seemed to be able to focus on was the touch of Youko's skin against hers. He was a killer and a thief, but at the moment the smoothness of his pale skin against her and the feel of the point of his claw made her mind numb. She couldn't have answered if someone asked if she was attracted or repulsed, but she most certainly was impassioned in some sort of way.

Youko's eyes widened for the briefest of moments before her felt Anna pull away from him to fall asleep among the plants now writhing under the surge of his demonic energy. He stepped away from the sleeping woman to leave her to rest under the protection of his favored willow tree.


	5. Chapter 5

Meeting the Youko Chapter 5

The next morning Anna awoke with her cheek nestled into a soft patch of ground cover and her hair matted with dead leaves. She sat up, noticing the way her tunic-like dress clung to her body from the ground moisture that the previously white fabric had absorbed. Absent-mindedly, Anna started to comb out the leaves from her hair and realized with a soft chuckle, that it was the very thing she had done just a couple of mornings ago in the human world. It seemed that every time she had any interaction with the king of thieves, she ended up waking up amidst underbrush complete with a nymphly pattern of twigs and leaves in her hair and some rather un-nymphly bruises.

Anna yawned aloud, and stretched in much the same way she would have done if she were back home in her apartment. She only half noticed how quickly she seemed to be adjusting to being in the demon world; deciding she would ponder the implications later. As Anna arched her body to try and stretch out some of the stiffness caused by sleeping on the ground, she noticed a bowl had been laid out only a few feet from where she had dropped the night before. She scuttled closer, her eyes wide in a curious expression and noticed that the bowl was actually a mortar and pestle containing a few leaves of spearmint, and a succulent plant of some sort. Beside the bowl was a kind of tulip like plant that Anna had never seen before, a hair brush and what looked like a tooth brush. Taking a hint, Anna used the mortar and pestle to make herself some toothpaste and used the brush to tidy her hair from its state of disarray. Finishing her morning grooming ritual, Anna decided to explore the untouched tulip-plant left conspicuously before her.

As her finger just barely touched the petal, the plant reacted. Opening its bloom fully, revealed water within the flower smelling sweetly of a honeyed tea. Naturally, Anna didn't trust it, however it quickly occurred to her that poisoning her randomly was hardly his style…still. The plant was clearly of human origin but possessed a demon youki similar to the one Anna had come to recognize was the spirit fox's.

Anna's lips parted in the shape of an "o" as she realized that she could tell exactly which plants were affected by Youko's demon energy from the night before as well as how many demons were nearby. Though she couldn't detect exactly where or how far away the youkai were, Anna's new awareness was clearly a sign of the improvement of her own psychic ability. Closing her eyes, she tried to do the only thing logical, she concentrated. It was difficult to clear her mind of the wild thoughts that pervaded in a flurry across her consciousness, but as she slowly banished them away she started to see vague outlines. Most were humanoid, a few were anything but, but Anna was clearly able to sort out the differences in their energies to identify each individual youkai. A familiar form stood out to her, as it bounded closer and became a clearer image.

Anna opened her eyes to see Anya skipping along the path of Youko's vast ningen garden to land in front of Anna. She tilted her head to the side as she stared in a bewildered fashion at Anna's outstretched hand. Worried that Anya's telepathy would focus in on her thoughts, Anna spoke, "Do you know what this is?" she asked, indicating the plant.

Anya smiled, her lips curling in the most feline of ways and her split tail flicking as if she had just caught a bird. "It's a tea tulip; Youko makes them with his demon energy somehow. We have a whole patch of them in the kitchens. You must have pleased him in some way for him to leave it for you; he usually doesn't care if the human slaves get enough water or not." Anya waved her hands as an apology in front of her when she noticed the appalled stare coming from her human charge. "No offense, no offense! But really, you should go ahead and drink it. You'll find it very refreshing. I think Youko's bewitched it to make up a whole meal. Makes getting food a lot easier when he and Kuronue are out on a job, I guess."

For a moment longer, Anna watched the Nekomata begin to fidget nervously. The feline's neurotic behavior was hardly a vote of confidence that she was telling the truth. Hesitantly, Anna put the edge of the tulip to her lips and made as if to drink. Anya never changed in her nervousness and never reacted to Anna "drinking" any of the tea. Anna lowered her gaze and breathed deeply the scent of the liquid. It was rich, almost like a chai tea that invited her to sip. Anya chose to break the silence.

"Oh! By the way, this was left for you on the door when I came in."

Anna released the tulip, watching its petals close again as if slipping into a dormant state. Grabing the note that Anya handed her, she read a list of tasks she was assigned to in the garden. Looking back up at the cat demon showed that Anya had become even more nervous. She now fiddled endlessly with her thumbs and even managed to accidently scratch herself with one of her own claws before she mumbled an incoherent phrase in Anna's direction.

Anna furrowed her brow, "Is everything all right? Would you like to sit down for a minute?" As she spoke, Anna had risen to ease closer to the cat in the hopes of guiding her to sit down for a minute. To her shock, Anya took a step back for every step forward that Anna took.

Anya shook her head hard enough to make her cat ears wiggle in the rush of wind. "Oh, no, no! Everything's fine…I just have a bunch of chores to do and my direct superior can be a real oni when she tried to be! Make sure to get those tasks done…I'll talk to you later, human!" With that closing statement, Anya darted back in the direction in which she had come faster than Anna's eyes could follow.

With nothing else to do, and the confidence that the tea-tulip was not poison, Anna drank deeply and indeed felt much more refreshed than she had in days.

Anya hurried down the corridor past some bewildered youkia of different sorts. Her head buzzed as their mixed emotions whirled through the air and bombarded her with varying degrees of intensity. As is typical, their first reaction was surprise at seeing her in the more populated halls of the guild; generally, Anya preferred to stay off by herself. The second reaction Anya sensed was attraction. She was a rather comely demoness, even if her empathic handicap kept strangers wary of her. Under normal circumstances, Anya's confidence would have risen with the realization, but as she rushed down the hall to Kuronue's office, she was hardly telepathically open enough to be effected by the lustful eyes watching her from behind. Beside, Anya's older brother would hardly tolerate any demon taking advantage of his sister's mood affected temperament.

Two guards stood in a relaxed but alert position on either side of Kuronue's door. One was dressed akin to a well armored samurai and completely humanoid in appearance. The other appeared to be a kind of centaur, with a draconic body in place of his equine proportions. They watched Anya's approach carefully as the cat demon tried in vain to focus her mind enough to catch a few stray thoughts of the warriors. When their mental defenses proved impenetrable to Anya's magics, she had no other option than to resort to more mundane forms of communication.

"I need to speak with Kuronue. The charge assigned to me has become…complicated." Anya spoke and paused to watch the two youkia fighters eye each other with barely a movement on their part. The mostly human looking samurai turned his focus on Anya. Again, she readied herself to try to break through his mental barrier as she furrowed her brows in concentration. The demon before her was impossible to read, either by his thoughts or his emotions. Had Anya possessed her brother's talents at telepathy, she likely wouldn't have had any trouble reading the guard. But then, she also wouldn't have to live in near solitude as a result of the unpredictability of her art.

"A message has been sent. You will be summoned." The draconic centaur muttered towards Anya. His voice growled, and Anya found herself very relieved she couldn't detect his emotions. The amount of annoyance in his voice spoke volumes enough.

Anya flicked her split tail, in the process "accidentally" bouncing her chest suggestively. If her wild mental abilities had taught her anything, it was how to utilize feminine wiles to the fullest extent. Being designed as a lovely mau nekomata didn't hurt her either. The Samurai aberration swayed visibly, while the centaur straightened. "You will be summoned." The samurai only echoed.

The lack of readings coming from the pair simultaneously made Anya nervous, and oddly relaxed. The enchantments of Kuronue's office prevented her from sensing if anyone was present inside, and since the pair of guards proved too powerful for her to hear, she felt relaxed enough to let her guard down. Anya was grateful that Youko and Kuronue preferred a little separation from the bustle of the inner guild; it proved to be much more relaxing here than back down to the central hall whence she came. Without asking, Anya relaxed against a nearby wall to wait for her summons.

Anya stretched her arms above her as she settled down, preparing to wait at length for the arrival of one of the guild's leaders. Half-glancing back at the guards told her that they hardly considered her a threat; both of them choosing to ignore her and resume their relaxed, but ever alert guard of the door. It was a rare treat for Anya to let down what shaky mental defenses she possessed. Since the fighters proved to be too powerful for her telepathy or empathic senses, this encounter proved to be one of the sparse moments Anya's inner personality was dominant while still in the presence of others.

At the core, Anya was like a child who had seen the horrors of the world at far too young an age. Her mental powers granted her access to a part of others they seldom shared. Too often, that insight had resulted in a since of distrust that prevented Anya from ever truly being comfortable with any other entity. Her "gifts" had exposed her to some of the most deplorable characterization of others, some intentional while others were only subconscious. As her empathic nature grew, Anya had discovered, through trial and error, how easily she could become engulfed by the plots around her. It had been a blessing when her brother had convinced Youko and Kuronue to offer her a home in the guild.

Youko spotted Anya and the guards long before they registered his presence. While he was not surprised that the cat demoness didn't notice him, he was hardly pleased that the two warriors hadn't been able to detect him either. As the three demons before the spirit fox recognized their guild leader, Youko watched the nekomata stand respectfully and the two guards straighten to a vigilant posture.

Anya lowered her eyes as the fox came to stand before her. "Prey tell me…why have you ventured so far from your quarters." His voice was low; he spoke so carefully that it was impossible to tell anything about his emotions from his voice.

As Anya opened her mouth to speak, the centaurian youkia spoke first, "She has a message concerning the human girl just fresh from the Ningenkai."

Youko turned his eyes to bore holes in the youkia. He had spoken to Anya and had expected her to answer. If it were at all possible, the demoness looked even more uncomfortable now that the spirit fox might have been put into a less than amused mood. Youko mentally chuckled; how curious that she should hate her psionic gifts so much, yet be so unsure of herself without them.

Deciding to discipline the clearly under-trained youkia later, Youko addressed Anya once more. "I understand it is difficult for you to be in crowds, yet you must pass through the main hall to get here. What could be so important?"

Anya tried to steady herself, but the pounding in her chest must have been audible as she opened her mouth to reply. "I've been tasked with watching the new human girl and was asked to speak directly to Kuronue or yourself if there was anything that might require your attention. I am here to do so, as instructed." Anya hoped her reply sounded respectful, lest it sound pretentious by dialect.

Youko watched her squirm for a little while longer before nodding an "I accept" to the nervous nekomata. Without waiting, Youko turned to walk towards the door leading to Kuronue's office. Anya took his abrupt end of conversation as a sign to follow him and swallowed as she passed the two youkia guards, each looking just as nervous as she felt, on her way to speak with the guild masters.

Youko flicked his tail in bemusement as he entered the front chamber of his private sanctuary. Front and center was a round table which served as a meeting ground to the highest of authority in the guild whenever planning a new raid. Anya recognized the atmosphere and straightened her back, her tail twitching in a far more nervous fashion. She followed the silver fox a cautious distance behind as she rounded the large round table to a side table neatly tucked in a corner with a draw-able curtain for privacy. He directed her to sit, taking an opposite seat to her as he took stock.

Youko waited in a quiet patience for Anya to reveal what was so important as to traverse the guild halls and find its master. He noticed with a slight smirk that although she was more herself away from penetrable minds than ever, the myriad of emotions which played on her face were those of an unsure kit.

"The human woman, Anna, sensed me when I approached…She _recognized me_. I figured she was some sort of psychic, but within a few nights her ability went from basically dormant to capable of distinguishing characters she knows and those she has never seen. I'm concerned that it might progress further." Anya hoped the bandit king understood what she was trying to say. All though Kuronue was hardly unperceptive, Youko had a reputation of being able to detect even the slightest of twitches that illuminated a motive or emotion. He was a learned empath which required no otherworldly power. Combining his keen perception to near unfaultable deductive reasoning and it was easy to see how boredom had been his original motive to begin a life of thievery. Anya couldn't imagine the fox going a day without challenging himself to find a new puzzle. Pity those puzzles were often someone's sealed vault or magically sealed valuables.

Youko pushed a stray lock of silver out of his eyes and watched the nekomata's form remain rigid. She was clearly concerned that he would reproach her for seemingly unimportant news. To the contrary, Youko was pleased. He needed the girl's latent psychic ability to form further in order to better test the subjugation crystal. A random human wouldn't have serviced; He needed someone capable of applying _will_ in order to insure he had not wasted his time in collecting the crystal. Anna was a time-saver, she could be used to properly test the crystal on a human, and later could be sold as a rare food to those who craved for such. Youko eyed Anya's breasts, briefly registering that her body's rigidity had transferred to accent her swell with a pert center. He smiled to himself that someone gifted in reading the minds and intentions of others could be so unaware of what effect she might have on them. Anya was fortunate that he had never fawned over cats.

"You are concerned that her ability to perceive will translate to an ability to effect the perception of others; as it does with your older brother." Youko remarked, leaning back in his chair in order to grant the cat demoness some distance to aid in calming her anxiety.

Anya nodded before responding, "Perhaps I wouldn't be so concerned if not for my… condition. In my clan, those who are gifted with being able to control their telepathy and empathy are sometimes able to transmit what they feel to others. My great grandfather used it to incense enemies of the clan against one another before coming to reeve the remainders." Anya looked down and too the side, "It's stupid to think that a human could ever do anything like that of course, it's just that I didn't expect her to gain any powers at all."

"You needn't be so apologetic, it detracts from whatever you are trying to persuade. Which is exactly…?"

Anya looked back at the fox's amber eyes and shivered. He was beautiful and she felt a sudden warmthening in her core. Those eyes, so unreadable, could promise compassion and understanding (she hoped he was going to show her some compassion), as well as a merciless death (she hoped she hadn't angered him _that_ much). "I don't know what to do, I," Anya stuttered," I don't know why I came here." She closed her eyes tightly and braced for reproach. When none came she opened her eyes to find the fox smiling with slight warmth. Anya visibly relaxed and let her eyes roam to the well toned arms and musculature promised beneath his tunic. The warmth strengthened and spread below; Anya was unfamiliar with arousal not inspired by a lusting onlooker. She was disappointed when her audience ignored it.

With her confession Youko stood up and strode beside her, placing delicate fingertips against the skin of her shoulder to rouse her eyes to meet him. Following his unspoken command she stood as the fox withdrew his hand, following the movement to maintain physical contact with her master. She mewed disappointment beneath her breath when her efforts to stay in his silken touch failed. The kitsune turned his back to her, looking back with amber gaze before speaking.

"You came because you were ordered to do so. You are obedient." His voice was colder now, as if he had reached some decision he had been debating on, though Anya couldn't imagine what. Somehow she doubted whatever decision it was had been about the human girl at all. His lack of interest in questioning her about the specifics of the morning persuaded the notion that the kitsune all ready knew. Anya scolded herself for thinking her guild master hadn't noticed the rise in the spirit energy of his newest captive. She was, after all, wearing a rather expensive piece of jewelry he would undoubtedly want back.

Anya practically floated out of the guild leader's chambers and steadied herself for the oncoming of the emotions of the main hall. Walking back the path she came, she hoped that Anna would give her another reason to visit the shadow of the fox again. She wiggled her knows in a girly fashion as she hope further. Perhaps the next time she saw his kitsune's shadow, it would be from above and hers from below.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I am very sorry for the Way-Too-Long wait between chapters. Let's just say I had a bunch of very time consuming life tasks to accomplish which distracted from writing. I'm in the process of moving, so I will try to update as readily as possible. And hey, anything is an improvement from my previous bout between chapters. Anyway, thanks for your patience and continued interest.


End file.
